


Detroit: Become Inhuman

by othersin



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F, F/M, M/M, Magical Creatures, androids are magical creatures au, i don't know guys
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-10-30 00:13:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20805311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/othersin/pseuds/othersin
Summary: The humans had for thousands of years meddled with things that shouldn’t be meddled with, the unseen world being ripped from the shadows as a convenient source of slave labor, workers and entertainment was one of the few atrocities committed in recent years.When the domesticated creatures start turning feral and returning to their baser animal instincts and injuring or even killing humans has set their society on edge. Cyberlife, the company that has been in charge of maintaining the creatures and reforming the more dangerous creatures for years has saw fit to send such a creature to assist the police department in this matter discretely.He has chosen to go by the name of “Connor”, and his new partner Hank can’t really stop the old habit of keeping an iron nail handy just in case Connor decides that perhaps he would like to go back to his roots.





	1. What are the real monsters

Hank wasn’t the only one openly staring at the figure that walked into the bulls pen, wearing a uniform with the cyberlife logo. Pale skin stretched across a fine bone structure, dusted with faint moles were the only obvious sign of imperfection that this being held – brown hair with one lone curl hanged over the others forehead.

You don’t see a guy like that usually strolling into the gritty scene of the Detroit police station, even the criminals they had being dragged in still couldn’t keep their eyes off him and the victims giving reports seemed to pause

Typical haircut, however longer at the sides as a means to slightly the pointed tips of the ears and the large brown eyes had a strange glow to them, brown eyes with flecks of gold that caught the light in an alluring way. He looked human, albeit, almost too attractive to look correct or even real but he had two arms, two legs, two eyes and kind but distant features.

Next to him seemed to be a human, a darker skinned woman that looked a little tired – half a head shorter than the otherworldly figure next to her. Wearing a nice, and slim fitting white pantsuit was perfectly contrasted against the others dark grey – while she seemed relaxed in the others presence the white collar with a swirling blue light seemed to be made to obviously visible to any wary humans around.

Hank had seen those collars before, it constantly monitors, regulates the unseen's emotions and whatever thing they used for cloaking – or as Hank had been told by the company, that it was a stabilizing glamour for the human’s benefit. While most Unseen that Cyberlife had domesticated and breed were generally quite humanoid in appearance, some had fangs, scales, fur and wings that humans really didn’t want to deal with.

The Unseen, most them had always been able to take the appearance of humans – either to lure them away to eat them, to trick them and cause pranks or to have children with humans. It was in their best interest in most cases to look as human as possible only usually to be thwarted by a human that either tricked them or being found out by a tell of what they are. When Hank had first started as a police officer working on the street, dealing with red ice – a toxic drug that had been made from Unseen blood, he had come across a sex worker who in her rush to get away from the cops and the shock of the drug bust made her completely regress into her true form in panic – a red fox, it was strange from one moment trying to stop a woman and the next a red furred fox tangled in the torn red dress and fishnets.

Hank ended up having to catch the fox in a special cage so she wouldn’t be able to shift back to bring it into lockup with the rest of the drug dealers – it looked the size of the usual cat or dog carrier. The boys back at the station joked about it for ages, and remarking that perhaps animal control should look after it – so quickly did the humanity fall from describing the woman, once she no longer appeared human.

And so, the collars become a viable option to keep the Unseen in a more stable, easy to identify and capture form. Also, it made them more buyer friendly.

After all who the hell wants to have sex with a lady that suddenly goes all monster on you when they have the technology to make them more aesthetically human all the time? And childcare, can’t have them scare the kids with fangs, claws and barbs, now can we?

They were still a pain to deal with when the collars didn’t sedate them or kill them when they started showing signs of aggression to humans, Cyberlife was great at keeping the on and off cases under wraps but there was only so much money they can throw around to make sure the public doesn’t pick up that perhaps they purchased a servant that could suddenly snap and attack them.

Hank hated that part most of all, the lack of communication given to the general population, seeing one of their kind in the park – watching the children that the parents still entrusted in their care. Hank always felt that there was a deep insatiable hunger in the eyes of the creature as they watched the children play – generations prior the parents would’ve have been terrified of such attention lest the Unseen spirit the children away and probably should still be wary.

Hank subconsciously reached into his pocket, feeling the cold and hard assurance of the iron horse shoe he kept – the newcomers eyes flicked to his own, as if he knew what the man held – returning his gaze back ahead however as they entered Fowler's office with his keeper at his heals.

Hanks hand tightened around the cold iron, grimacing as painful memories surfaced again.

“Tch, Cyberlife sent the freak-show.” Gavin Reed sneered; arms crossed other his chest – the den erupted in various chatter of what has just transpired. Hank tried to ignore his college and the chatter around him, the show was over and generally he would like to forget about the stranger and return to his work while Reed continued his idle chatter with Tina

“What do you think it looks like under all that synthetic crap?”

“Hey, maybe if we get his collar to short circuit, we’ll see…”

“But if that happens, isn’t the collar supposed to sedate them.”

“Yeah, supposed to – but look at the attacks that has happened recently.”

“The freaks just freak out and kill themselves most of the time after the attack anyway.”

Hank pulled out the chair to sit gingery down, his desk had old coffee mug rings and empty takeaway from his favourite joint; Chicken Feed. His bonsai had seen better days, perhaps he should’ve gone for a succulent or a cactus instead in light of his type of work. He was almost successful with distracting himself with the cases that had been piling up and normality had almost returned to the office space as a good hour and half had passed with the new visitors still discussing something with Jefferey Fowler, the captain of the station.

Cyberlife probably wanted to cover their asses at the increased freak-outs of the Unseen, or Deviants as they are nicknamed, their little pet project of apparently perfectly domesticating creatures that once prided themselves on fucking up the lives of humans and spiriting away children to perhaps to eat or just take for their own still had a few bugs in the system. It made Cyberlife a mint however, and the company was not the type of entity to lose that sweet cash – they wanted to find the reason what was making them flip out and remove it from the problem.

Hank almost successfully lost himself in his work, however the click of Fowler's door opening and the light almost ghost like footsteps and the sudden chill that ran down his back as the sensation of being watched intently washed over him and made him look up at to confront who ever it was but stilled when he met the brown eyes with flicks of gold looked down at him warmly.

“Hello my name is Connor, it’s a pleasure meeting you Lieutenant Anderson.” The cyberlife uniform Unseen, designation Connor introduced itself happily to the man.

Oh fuck no.

“As per instruction from Cyberlife and Captain Fowler I am here to assist you into capturing the wayward Unseen and bringing them back to Cyberlife for re-education and examination unharmed.” Connor smiled beautifully, such a human expression auctioned flawlessly, however it continued,

“I look forward to working with you, please think of me as any other human.” Connor held out his hand to shake but looked down at it unsure, like he was uncertain he was doing it right, “I believe this is how humans greet each other.”

Hank stared dumbly at the hand that was asserted to be shaken again – it was too early to be drinking but hell, he needed a stiff drink.

* * *

TBC?

I don’t know, it depends how I feel. Haven’t felt the urge to sit down and write. If you guys enjoy my nonsense just let me know via kudos or comments.


	2. wolf in sheep's clothing

The day Markus was free from the collar was both liberating and terrifying – for so long, the human guise he wore felt uncomfortable and itchy against his true nature. Soaring away in sheer panic in the black feathery form of a large raven, away from those that wished to capture him again, he couldn’t process what had happened or changed on that day.

* * *

The day started like any other, Markus found himself following the same routine of what that he was trained to do, to assist the older human he had looked after for many years – he made breakfast, adhering to what the doctors had listed for the human’s diet. He paused briefly in his work and raised a hand to the collar he had worn since he had left cyberlife to work for Carl Manfred, a famous human painter.

He was the only Phooka captured by Cyberlife, the company was once determined to find and domesticate more Phooka’s. Like the household spirit Brownie and other Unseen were relatively happy to live among the humans, reportedly, even in the wild they often gravitated to the cities and towns – a phooka is not timid among humans and were able to maintain a guise for long periods of time. Intelligence, strength and wisdom was a few of their key attributes – Cyberlife could sell the Phooka as a companion for someone that needed a creature to be able to keep up with social norms and requests as well as being the discreet eyes and ears of their human owner.

But they had some drawbacks however, being notorious for pranks and tricks, paired with the fact that they are quite deft shapeshifters – Cyberlife came to the conclusion that perhaps that combination become a bit of a problem. The only thing that saved him from being kept at cyberlife as some sought of experiment was Kamiski, the CEO of Cyberlife at the time giving him as a gift to Carl Manfred – who was left alone in his old house due to his sons’ years of drug abuse.

Originally Carl had gone to cyberlife to see the House Brownies that they had ready to name and bind to a household and quite accidentally stumbled upon Markus who was playing chess against himself in his boredom. Carl amused, had sat down and requested if he may join – Markus agreed and the rest was history. Honestly Markus just needed something to keep his mind busy and active, to get his mind off the itch that quite often crawled up his back – he had asked other of the Unseen, a house brownie if they ever felt that sensation. The kind but dull creature only shrugged and continued happily to clean – their purpose was to fix, mend and clean; it was just their nature to do domestic tasks.

That’s probably why most of the viable Unseen that were permitted to live in human households were the Brownies and other household friendly creatures. They were naturally nurturing and of even temperament, Markus had only seen one get angry once but the staff at Cyberlife took it away for an hour of so – it came back as friendly as ever though if questioned what happened the creatures eyes went a little glassy and distant.

A phooka is unlike a brownie, often choosing to live in forests or park lands not too close to humans usually – a prankster by nature that was once able to shift into any animal form but was unable to shape shift due to the collar that constantly locked the form into a human guise. Markus felt like that caused the itch sometimes, which caused him to be irate sometimes – why Markus needed to distract himself.

Markus was far from the usual timid household spirit, more at home in the forest but he took to the role well to return the kindness the older human did not have to give. With his form locked the way it was he looked just like any other human male – besides the collar denoting his Unseen status, and other tells he couldn’t disguise very well was the short goat horns same went for his long black furred tail which however could be easily hidden beneath his clothes or long coats.

Carl had been shown those features when he asked Markus to be a model for him the first time, Markus explaining that most Unseen are noted to have a tell that humans could stumble upon in the creature’s inattention. Most of the creatures while in human guise just took to hiding it under clothes and Carl was fascinated by it, wondering why a creature that is known for its tricks would have something that gave the trick away if a human knew where to look – Markus didn’t really have an answer for that.

Carl had asked him to try to shape shift once out of curiosity sake, so Markus tried to humor the old painter but the sensation he experienced was not one he wished to repeat. It was like a tight film was wrapped around his body at all times. It was suffocating, Carl apologized, likening the Markus’s sensation of being trapped in his own skin to his own bound body to the wheelchair.

Carl Manfred was a good human and Markus was quite content to help the older man, the old painter was kind to him and Markus, as of his nature, once kindness was shown to a phooka it was often returned and remembered.

Markus placed everything on the tray and entered the warm and inviting room – he liked this room the best as it allowed him to explore the knowledge and wisdom from the old books that Carl had collected through the years. He placed the tray down, completing his first task of the day and making a note of the time that was shown on the clock on the desk – there was some time left, leaving him alone with some free time for himself.

He found himself gravitate to the pristine collection of books detailing human mythology and legends, he found the stories interesting as it was often due to the humans stumbling into the territory of an Unseen or wondering into sacred grounds of the numerous nature spirits. Generally, they never ended well for the Unseen, as these stories are written for humans by humans – most of the time the human hero of the story often deserved the ire of the creatures he upset but was unable to be punished as they were the “good guys”.

It just reminded Markus of why humans disliked or distrusted them so, these stories detailed them as nothing but tricksters and monsters – desiring nothing but fooling the silly humans that get in their way. But Carl didn’t treat him like a monster or a hindrance, treating him like a friend or equal - Markus was given his own room and his own space.

But other than some just being fairy stories, others were field guides and illustrations that were a mix of ones Carl did and other artists who were fortunate to see the Unseen as what they once were before the collars and Cyberlife. Markus flicked though the pages, seeing the water coloured serenity of an undine floating in a mossy lake, a merrow halfway though a meal of a fish and the fearsome kelpie that loomed by the shores with a dripping mane.

Markus continued to flick though the pages, split into sections of if the Unseen are found in the forest, lakes, ocean, mountains, caves or close to humans. It was filled with anatomical drawings or the artist taking an interest in a certain part of the creature with a mix of detailed notes of the observation or the inane thoughts of the artist in question. In particular for the kelpie it was a hasty note just saying, “DO NOT RIDE THIS HORSE, EVER!” – Markus had not personally seen a kelpie but they are by far one of the more well-known malicious creatures, as Detroit is close to a great expanse of water it was naturally that there would be many waters bound Unseen waiting for the unsuspecting human.

Markus continued flipping though the book, the term of the Unseen was interchanged between various terms depending on the writer or artist. They have also been known as the Unseelie, Seelie, Fay folk, Hulder and of course as just Fairies – Markus didn’t really care for any but either using the name Unseen or Hulder just easily determined that most of them preferred to be unseen or hidden. In a sense they still were, with the human guises they were to wear – most of them had long since forgotten what they had looked like before with the odd tell here or there breaking though their guise.

That’s why Markus loved this book most of all, he flipped to the section about the woodlands – past the Nymphs, Huldra, Centaurs, Fauns and to the last chapter that had a long black furred creature that was sleepily lazing in a bough of a tree that Markus things is similar to that of a big cat.

A bipedal, with features close to a fox or a dog creature with the long black shaggy fur -goat like horns curled around the head like a proud crown and eyes an eerie yellow with horizontal black pupils. This was the true form of a phooka, a form so easily forgotten due to the creatures constant need to shapeshift – known to overripe crops and berries if in the area for too long and often considered demonic of nature due to the alarming appearance.

This was such a rare moment to capture, and the artist captured it – the way it was posing made him think that the artist may have asked to paint it which the other had granted judging by the expression. Markus couldn’t really remember being that free ever in his life, or even being allowed to regress to his true appearance, choosing what to look like instead of it being forced upon him like a prison uniform. Markus felt frustration again, irately closing the book and returning it but not before knocking a book on its side accidentally.

Not wanting to damage the brittle pages of the old book did he pull it to safety – the hardcover giving him pause as it was not one he recalled, perhaps it was new? Markus did retrieve a book after he picked up the new oil pants. He opened it gently, forgetting his frustration at the moment, it seemed to have the appearance of one of those beautifully inked bibles – it was medieval in appearance but the inks were still as vibrant as the day they touched the page.

He continued, the images giving him pause however – they were illustrations of Unseen he had never heard of or encountered, all from different cultures and countries, it seemed to be a field guide of sorts. He skimmed over the elaborate illustration of a large tree with a snake tangled in the roots and to the unfinished section. Whoever wrote or illustrated this book had seemed to stop suddenly with perhaps the most impressive and alarming drawing of them all, it was filled with hasty scribbles and warnings as it seemed to describe the following illustrations on the pages, elegant figures of humanoid statue – pristine white bodies, slim and agile with large gauzy wings, outstretched arms - four in total, and the blackest of eyes – four in total.

With the crest and fur the Unseen looked to be that of a moth or insect like, with the curling long antennae with the unfurled filaments to add to the look. The sketches around it seemed to draw comparison in appearance and overall fluffiness to that of a silk moth – Markus paused at the illustration of the so called light elf or the Ljósálfar as it was dubbed by the curling handwriting of the journal writer, the counterpart of the creature the dark elf or the Dökkálfar had not been recorded as an illustration however but Markus felt it wouldn’t look as fluffy or otherworldly in it’s attractiveness. While no illustration existed of the dark elf, the notes seemed to refer to it as the light elves’ shadows – the brighter they shined the stronger the dark elves become.

The final page of the book was signed by a smeared signature, and an odd-looking rune had been embossed of the page – it looked familiar though Markus couldn’t pin point it, he raised a finger to trace it gently though flinching away puzzled; he was uncertain on why he did that. The final text even seemed to ponder that these creatures come from a realm that all of the Unseen once originated from and were able to return to that realm but it didn’t seem to go into further information about that.

Markus had not encountered one nor judging by the sharp warnings, it would seem that you wouldn’t want to meet one – never mind being beautiful, they seemed to be very dangerous.

Markus closed the book and returned it to its rightful place into the bookshelf- not wanting to hold the book anymore. Trying to push the book from his mind and returned to his daily chores, next was waking up Carl and assisting him with his medicine. He made his way upstairs and walked into the large bedroom with the older man sleeping, Markus felt slightly bad for waking the other up, however he still opened the blinds making the man groan but never the less sit up and grumble as he always did when Markus presented him with the shot he had to take.

* * *

While the repetition confined him and his wild nature by heart, there was something ultimately satisfying in assisting Carl and listen to the man chat to him like he was a good friend – free to offer input and be met with consideration. When Carl finished with his breakfast he requested to be wheeled into the studio as per their usual schedule – Markus obliged .

“Wish I could paint you.” Carl said thoughtfully looking at one of his almost finished pieces, making Markus blink owlishly at him as their had been many paintings of him already, making the older man chuckle, “I mean what you’d prefer to look like.”

“The collar won’t allow it.” Markus frowned raising a hand to it again, the blinking light shifting yellow to denote the others increased stress. Carl flicked his eyes to the collar and had such a deep look of sympathy, he seemed like he was going to say something else but the clatter of an empty paint tin being kicked distracted both Carl and Markus who turned to see who strolled through the studio door.

“Hi dad and dads pet monster…” Leo Manfred drawled, giving such a dirty look to Markus, the pit that opened up in Markus’s stomach at the term monster was profound.

“Leo.” Carl admonished harshly, upset at his son visibly upsetting Markus. Leo scoffed, visibly jealous of the attention the phooka received from his father in his on and off bouts of going in and out of rehab for red ice abuse. Carl loved his son but was not blinded by parental love to not see that Leo needed to get serious help in regarding his addiction.

“What are you doing here Leo?” Carl questioned.

“What, does your own son need a reason to visit you?” Leo said, words spat bitterly – swaying slightly were he stood. It wouldn’t take the heightened senses of the Unseen to smell the alcohol and the sweet heady smell of red ice on the human – it would seem Leo got high the moment he escaped rehab.

“Yes, when every time you visit you ask for more money Leo.” Carl countered, patience only going so far.

“Perhaps I just wanted to see you!” Leo screamed back, like a pertinent child – raring for a fight.

“Leo, I think its best you leave and come again when you feel a little better.” Markus bit the side of his cheek to not add, ‘when you are more sober’ because that would just start a fight. Mind you, Markus holding his tongue was not going to stop the fight that was bubbling inside the human male tonight.

“Stay out of this you fucking imposer!” Leo sneered, pointing at Markus, “You were all made to be crappy imitations of humanity.”

“Leo leave him alone” Carl pleaded a little breathlessly, his stress going unnoticed by the Unseen and his son.

“No dad, this thing isn’t even a ‘him’ – just some beast in human clothing.” Leo snapped back quickly.

“A beast…” Markus repeated back lowly, miscoloured eyes slanted and narrowed at the human – the flickering led on the collar turned a bright red, if he didn’t calm down the collar would sedate him with the dosed needle that flicked out in response to the stress and call cyberlife to pick him up. Most of the Unseen had a flight or fight response to the stress, sedation was the best way to protect humans and make certain the property wouldn’t be damaged, ready to be taken by Cyberlife and corrected.

Leo smirked viciously sensing the Phooka’s change of temperament, taking the change as a way to move closer to the taller being and getting up in Markus’s space – Markus couldn’t stop how his hackles raised at the others actions.

“Yeah, you belong in a fucking cage!” Leo shoved Markus harshly, making him stagger backwards – Markus righted himself only to turn sharply at he sounds of Carl falling his wheelchair gasping.

“Carl-?!” Markus began turning, only to have his face forced sharply by the side with the force of the shorter male’s punch – a punch made at the Unseen’s moment of inattention, a coward’s punch that has been known to kill men in bar brawls. Markus couldn’t right himself this time and was on the ground stunned and blue blood dripping from his mouth and nose, Carl pitifully reached for him – still trying to protect him.

Leo was still enraged and borderline manic as he reached for the sharp edges chisel, they had to open up the tins of paint, the residue of the paint chipping off from the silver – raising it to perhaps try and stab the prone Unseen. Panic seized Markus at the sight of the glint of the sharp edge, and the tightness of the collar was suffocating – this was it, this was how he was going to die, like a caged animal.

Like a caged beast.

Markus didn’t feel it at first, but the collar had most certainly dosed him -sending out an alert to cyberlife, it won’t be long before they come to collect him. Markus was just running on pure adrenaline and fury was what was keeping him aware. Nor did Markus hear the strange buzz the collar emitted before it faulted and clicked open, the device fell from his neck – It gave Leo pause however as Markus staggered to his feet.

Leo backed away slowly, dropping the chisel as Markus’s shadow loomed over him – Markus was acting on instinct, not fully aware or comprehending he was a lot taller than he was a moment ago or how his body was covered in full black fur now.

Only when he pounced on Leo, the terrified human screaming as Markus screamed back – or roared back in this case did he realize was in the form of a large black bear. Markus was blindly reacting, blood pumping loudly in his ears, that he couldn’t hear his friend call for him to stop – only the burning sensation of a cut against his leg snapped him out of it. Leo's eyes rolled back into his skull, out cold in a dead faint - the human was lucky, the red hot anger that Markus felt, who knew if he would completely loose himself and rip the others head clean off.

Markus whipped around snarling only to come to his senses when he saw it was Carl who had a trembling hand outstretched,palm open with a nail dropping from his trembling hand – it was long nail that had been in the studio on the floor from that large canvas they prepped a couple of nights before. Carl had asked him to nail the canvas down, however Markus dropped the nail the moment he picked it up as it burned – as if it was fresh from the fire it was forged in, Carl had assisted in tending to the wound.

It would seem the nails had an high compound of iron in the metal, it wasn't that bad though, cold iron is worse.

The scratch only burned slightly but it was enough to snap Markus out of the strange kind of rage state he entered – he shifted to his smaller less threatening human form, though in such a sudden change in size his clothes were completely ripped and ruined but his indecency was far from his concern at the moment as he watched Carl crawl over to Leo. He cradled his son to his chest, rocking him back and forth – the human was unharmed however he has fainted in freight.

Markus stepped forward with an outstretched hand and an apologetic expression,

“Carl, I’m so sorry…” Markus truly was, feeling a little sick in himself – he knew in his heart that he would've killed Leo if Carl didn’t snap him out of it. Carl looked weary, turning away from the hand. Markus's heart sunk.

“Why are you still here?” Carl asked.

“What…?” The sharp pain of loss filled Markus’s chest.

“You have to go now; they can’t find a non-collared Unseen here.” Carl explained harshly, even then demanding before Markus could say anything further,

“LEAVE, GO, GET OUT OF HERE!” Carl begged the other, turning the Unseen out. It was bitter sweet but Markus nodded, walking away from the crumpled pair – the distant sounds of sirens filling the air closing in on him. He closed his eyes briefly and thought of a form to fly away with, the sensation of shifting was beyond description but the human guise gave way for a large raven with black shiny feathers – black shining blue in the dimming sunlight.

He gave the older man one last look, one of the only friends he had and the closest thing he could call family – he cawed a goodbye and took flight, fighting off the sedation due to sheer determination.

* * *

Markus struggled in the air, his form finally feeling the full effects of the sedation – his wing beats slowed. He was in a much smaller form, the drug was moving around his body a lot more quickly.

He wasn’t entirely sure where he was trying to go, there was no natural forest he could hide within for miles in fact the only closest place he had heard still had the Unseen run free is Canada.

His mismatched eyes felt heavy as the height suddenly dropped, his vision span seeing the world spin – a mix of sky, water and an old rusty ship was the last thing he saw before he plummeted finally succumbing to the restless sleep caused by the mix of potent drugs.

Well if he fell to his death, at least he was free.

* * *

Tbc?

Welp, I continued. Please leave a comment and kudos if you liked. Markus is a shapeshifter, a phooka, puca ect. Known to play tricks on humans using their shapeshifting abilities however is known to show favour to some humans – Celtic, welsh folklore.


End file.
